Reflection on a Quiet Afternoon

I'm sitting in my living room, alone. Laura's gone to the city to hang out with some friends, and our weekend guests Jeff and Jay have gone home.

I'm watching the sky. It's sunny, but I can see the huge, majestic, rolling rainclouds coming over the mountains, bringing with it another torrential evening downpour. It's the calm before the storm, both with the weather and in real life.

This is the first time I've had some time to myself in a while, and I must admit, it's nice. The last few months have been go-go-go. In the last few weeks, I've been on ten flights and have spent considerably more time away from my house than in it. It's been fun, but I'm relishing the chance to take a breather and listen to the sounds of Mavudzi-Ponte that I've missed so much.

The leaves of the trees swaying in the pre-rain breeze. The laughing kids struggling to get their squeaky wheelbarrow home before the downpour. My cat purring in my lap, oblivious to the oncoming storm.

I'm soaking this up right now, because I know that as soon as I blink an eye, the roller-coaster continues. Yesterday we had our official Abertura ceremony marking the beginning of the 2014 school year. Classes start next week, but I'll be in Maputo, taking the Foreign Service Exam. (Wish me luck!) As soon as I get back, I'll jump right back into teaching and working on my library. This year, I'm teaching two turmas of day school and three of night school, so that I'll have more free time during the day to work on my library and get it up and running.

There are a lot of things coming up, but for now, I'm going to sit here, with my hot chocolate and a book, and listen to the sounds of the rain. Perfect timing -- here it comes now.